A brush motor has a stator and a rotor with a shaft, a rotor core, a commutator fixed on the shaft, and rotor windings wound about teeth of the rotor core and electrically connected to segments of the commutator. In such a brush motor, electric terminals are required for connection to an external power supply. The electric terminals are generally mounted in an end cap of the stator and electrically connected to brushes of the motor so that the power can be supplied to the rotor windings via the electric terminals, the brushes and the commutator.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show an end cap for a permanent magnet direct current motor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,305. The end cap 14 is provided with two apertures 26 for receiving an external supply plug having two flat male terminals and carries a bearing 15, two brush leaves 16 each carrying a brush 17, and two U-shaped terminals 18. The U-shaped terminals 18 are anchored at their base 28 by rivets to brush arm mounting plates 25. Two limbs 29 of each U-shaped terminal 18 are inserted in an elongate axial channel 27 formed in the end cap.
The rivet is a source of failure of this type of motor and is time consuming to assemble during production. Also the U-shaped terminal needs to be gently deformed or compressed to enable it to be inserted into the slot during assembly, thus requiring time and special care.